Review: Ravagers Vol. 1- The Kids from N.O.W.H.E.R.E.

Quick Summary

Pros: The premise of this series is fairly interesting and creates some unique themes.

Cons: The more unique themes are often ignored for generic action. The volume often feels like it is being dark for the sake of darkness. Some over-the-top emotion takes away from the story.

Overall: Though there is a solid story within this book, the volume’s weaker aspects often distract from the positives. This makes the volume hard to enjoy at times, especially when the shorter story arcs feel inorganic to the larger narrative. There is still potential here though, so hopefully things improve with the second volume. All in all, this is a book for people who enjoy darker stories about youthful superheroes, not those looking for an all around good read.

Story

Ravagers Vol. 1: The Kids From N.O.W.H.E.R.E., by Howard Mackie, is a book with a great premise but a mediocre execution. It focuses on a group of teenaged metahumans struggling to discover their purpose in the world. However, this focus is often lost by some unappealing storylines that distract the reader and hurt the narrative. In addition, the book is constantly pushing toward a darker and more edgy tone, which feels like a bit much at times. There is still an interesting story being told here, as long as readers are able to look past the distractions.

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While The Culling: Rise of the Ravagers (Review) was a messy and uninteresting affair, this new series manages to use it to create a neat premise. The series stars a group of young metahumans who have been used and abused by those with more power. Now, the formerly powerless have the power. This leads to a theme about what having power means and what responsibilities come with it. Their constant debate between selfish desires and selfless sacrifice is one of the most interesting and compelling aspects of this volume.

Unfortunately, this premise is often overshadowed by other storylines, which mostly focus on pretty generic action. Their fight against Brother Blood has no thematic relation to anything else going on and feels out of place overall. Even Superboy’s appearance contributes little to the overall narrative and provides more of a distraction than anything else. If the themes surrounding power and responsibility were more prevalent, there is a good chance that this volume could have been better.

Another negative comes from the volume’s desire to be darker and edgier than it truly is. Many scenes, such as character deaths and most of Brother Blood’s actions, seem to only be violent for the sake of violence. It helps set a bleak tone for the series but also goes a bit too far in some places. This makes more lighthearted moments, like when the team goes out shopping, feel strange and out of place. This might appeal to those looking for a darker version of a teen book but is likely to feel weird for most other readers.

Near the end of the book, things begin to improve but things still fall short of where they need to be. Terra’s struggle between killing her former captors and letting them go was a great way to show the internal darkness held by each hero. However, the over-the-top dialogue and emotion feels forced and slightly hurts this moment. Hopefully, the next volume will contain moments like this but with a little more polish.

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Art

While the story is a bit hit or miss, the artwork is pretty good throughout the collection. Ian Churchill’s pencils and Norm Rapmund’s inks make for a solid combination that presents the team with a good level of detail. In addition, backgrounds look great and do a wonderful job in reflecting the bleak nature of the Ravagers’ situation. The only problem is that perspective feels a bit off at times, especially when showing Caitlin Fairchild’s current size. However, this barely has an effect on things and the collection still looks good overall.

Continuity

Ravagers Vol. 1: The Kids From N.O.W.H.E.R.E. starts the Ravagers New 52 series. This new series is formed as a direct consequence of The Culling: Rise of the Ravagers (Review).

The story started here continues in Ravagers Vol. 2: Heavenly Destruction (Review).

• Since this essentially continues the story from The Culling: Rise of the Ravagers (Review), many elements from that crossover are referenced here.
• Caitlin Fairchild’s connection to N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and her past with Superboy are referenced a number of times. Both of these stories are told in Superboy Vol. 1: Incubation (Review).
• A mysterious “red place” plays a part in this story and clearly has some connection with Beast Boy’s powers. The mechanics of the Red are best explained in Animal Man Vol. 1: The Hunt (Review).
  • In addition, a corruption in the Red is also mentioned. This is likely a reference to Animal Man Vol. 3: Rotworld: The Red Kingcom (Review).